Tracy McGrady Pledges to Expand Sister Schools Program in support of Darfuri Youth

WASHINGTON – NBA star and humanitarian Tracy McGrady made a commitment to scale up direct online communication between U.S. students and children in Darfuri refugee camps. McGrady works with the Darfur Dream Team Sister Schools Program to foster cross-cultural understanding and engage U.S. youth in advocacy and fundraising to improve the quality of education for their Darfuri counterparts. A member of the Clinton Global Initiative, or CGI, McGrady made the pledge at the recent CGI’s annual meeting.

The Darfur Dream Team Sister Schools Program was created after McGrady visited Darfuri refugee camps in eastern Chad with John Prendergast and Omer Ismail of the Enough Project. He returned with a mission to support the Darfuri refugees and, in that spirit, the program raises funds for quality primary education in the camps and builds mutually beneficial relationships between U.S schools and the Darfuri refugee students.

“When I was in the camps, every parent I talked to desperately wanted their child to receive an education and I was moved to help them achieve that dream,” McGrady said. “This commitment will take us one step closer to fulfilling that promise of providing quality education to Darfuri refugee children.”

McGrady was selected for CGI membership because of his humanitarian work and saw this as an opportunity to expand the DDT Sister School Program’s innovative efforts to foster connections between American and Darfuri students to generate greater understanding and action for the issues faced by displaced African youth.

“The Sister Schools Program fills a critical gap in funding education in refugee camps while at the same time making real connections between students in the camps and students in U.S. schools,” said John Prendergast, Co-founder of the Enough Project. “The program enriches young people on both sides of the ocean and fills a huge hole in the international response to refugee populations."

As the program scales up its efforts with this commitment, fundraising continues with the support of schools and other donors throughout the U.S. to deliver quality primary education to Darfuri refugee children.

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About the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI)

Established in 2005 by President Bill Clinton, the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) convenes global leaders to devise and implement innovative solutions to some of the world’s most pressing challenges.

Since 2005, CGI Annual Meetings have brought together nearly 150 current and former heads of state, 18 Nobel Prize laureates, hundreds of leading CEOs, heads of foundations, major philanthropists, directors of the most effective nongovernmental organizations, and prominent members of the media. These CGI members have made nearly 2,000 commitments, which have already improved the lives of 300 million people in more than 180 countries. When fully funded and implemented, these commitments will be valued in excess of $63 billion. The 2011 Annual Meeting took place Sept. 20-22 in New York City. www.clintonglobalinitiative.org.

About Darfur Dream Team Sister Schools Program

The Darfur Dream Team is a dynamic partnership of organizations and professional basketball players working together on the Sister Schools Program, an initiative linking American middle schools, high schools and universities with 12 schools in 2 Darfuri refugee camps in eastern Chad. The Program works to provide a quality education to every refugee child from Darfur and, develop personal connections between students from Darfur and the United States that promote mutual understanding.